02
June 2017
Past Event
Six Days of Fire: Israel and the June 1967 War, Fifty Years On

Six Days of Fire: Israel and the June 1967 War, Fifty Years On

Past Event
Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters
June 02, 2017
At the end of the Six Day War, Israeli soldiers hug and kiss the stones of the Western Wall, Old City of Jerusalem, Israel, June 11, 1967 (Dan Porges/Getty Images)
Caption
At the end of the Six Day War, Israeli soldiers hug and kiss the stones of the Western Wall, Old City of Jerusalem, Israel, June 11, 1967 (Dan Porges/Getty Images)
02
June 2017
Past Event

1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004

Speakers:
Lee Smith

Former Senior Fellow

michael_doran
Michael Doran

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East

Hillel Fradkin

Senior Fellow and Director, Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World

Liel Leibovitz

Israeli-American journalist; Senior Writer, Tablet Magazine; and author of The Chosen Peoples: America, Israel, and the Ordeals of Divine Elections

Between June 5 and June 10, 1967, Israel’s lightning-strike military victory reshaped the modern Middle East—its geography and the political map. In its war against four Arab armies, supported by other Muslim majority countries, the tiny Jewish state wrested the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and reunified Jerusalem. With its success, Israel established itself as a strong power capable of taking on more established regional actors. Furthermore, it was at this point the United States began to recognize Israel’s value as a Cold War ally, balancing against the Soviet Union’s Arab partners.

Half a century later, the ground under the Middle East has shifted and the Arab-Israeli crisis is no longer the region’s defining issue. Many of the Arab states that fought Israel in 1967, or backed the war, now have shared interests with Jerusalem, not least of which is recognizing Iran as a common threat. None of this would have been possible had Israel not proven itself a strategic power fifty years ago.

On June 2, Hudson hosted a lunchtime discussion of Israel, the June 1967 War, and the challenges facing the region today. The event was moderated by Hudson Senior Fellow Lee Smith, and featured Hudson Senior Fellows Michael Doran and Hillel Fradkin, and Israeli-American journalist Liel Leibovitz.

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